At present we have moved into the black out period as we wait for companies to start reporting the past quarter and half year results. The institution’s investors are looking to make sure companies are performing before putting their money back into the market.

I expect this reporting season will be a tough one but we should see the majority of companies report a slight increase in earnings. I do not expect to see companies hit full year forecasts, as a lot of companies have already downgraded their annual forecasts.

What should you do? For my money I think there are already a number of good opportunities in the market place and although I am not in a rush to get fully invested, I think the retail investor should be looking to pick up these cheap stocks while they are available.

On Friday our market closed down 1.25% closing at 4915 points. At these levels our market is cheap. Sooner or later it will get back to fair value of 6600 but in the meantime you can pick up massive dividends for your trouble.